Miguel Locks News

The works for the grout curtain to protect the foundation of Borinquen 1E Dam concluded today. The grout curtain is 2.4 kilometers long and 15 meters deep under the core of the foundation of Borniquen 1E Dam, located on the west side of Pedro Miguel Locks. “This is another important component of the Expansion Program that is successfully moving forward,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano. The grout curtain will prevent ground-water seepage and erosion of materials through the foundation of Borinquen 1E Dam, by filling with cement the rock fractures, void spaces and discontinuities located below the dam's foundation. The works are part of the Pacific Access Channel 4 (PAC-4) project, which is one of the components of the Expansion Program.

As work on the expansion project progresses, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) continues to modernize and upgrade the existing waterway, resulting in streamlined operations and increased capacity. Recent modernizations, valued at $320m, include an improved lighting system in the Canal’s locks; a new track and turntable system; the acquisition of five new tugboats; an additional tie-up station; and, the replacement and reconstruction of the ACP’s launch fleet. According to the ACP…

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced that its second tie-up station, located at Cartagena approach, is in full operation. The new station allows the Canal to transit at least one additional vessel per day. The management of the Canal constantly strives to increase daily transits, bolster customer service, save customers money and enhance efficiency. The way the ACP schedules vessel transits, traffic goes northbound (Pacific to Atlantic) in the morning and switches to southbound (Atlantic to Pacific) in the afternoon.

Panama Canal Authority project to deepen the navigational channel in Gatun Lake is 40 percent complete - ahead of schedule and within budget. The project's goal is to deepen the channel in the Lake, the large, man-made body of water that all ships navigate when transiting the Canal. Among the many benefits, when complete, the deepening will provide an additional meter of water storage, a 45 percent increase. This would minimize future draft restrictions, enhancing reliability and improving vessel safety, and accommodate future demand for drinking water.

In step with the rest of the maritime world, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is making major investments to improve security and reduce the risk and vulnerability of its facilities. Because of these investments, though, which include expanding the Canal's electronic monitoring and tracking systems, a new fee will be assessed on all transiting vessels as of June 1, 2002. Among other things, improvements include adding new computerized systems and collecting data from all ships that arrive in Canal waters. The ACP is currently working on the Automatic Identification System (AIS), to be test- activated in 2002 and mandatory by July 2003. AIS will permit identifying and tracking all vessels before they enter Canal waters and during their transit.

A Thai-flagged cargo vessel collided with a wall on the approaches to one of the Panama Canal's three sets of locks, but traffic in the Canal was unaffected, the waterway's administration said on Thursday. The ship, Nopporn Naree, slammed into the concrete wall as it prepared to pass northbound through Pedro Miguel Locks en route to the Caribbean on Wednesday morning, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said. No injuries were reported following the collision, but the 479-ft. (146-m) vessel's impact damaged a towing locomotive used to guide ships through the lock's chambers, the Authority said. The vessel left Canal waters on Thursday, after taking on supplies of bunker fuel. Traffic through the 50-mile waterway was unaffected by the incident.

Dubbed "The Greatest Engineering Wonder of the World," the Panama Canal has experienced a whirlwind run since President Woodrow Wilson flicked a switch of the first gushes of water to flow through the 51-mile body of water that is arguably the most important shipping channel in world. It was 1914 and it was as though Central America and Europe — situated at opposite sides of the Atlantic — were worlds apart. For it was in the Central American country of Panama where workers from many nations joined forces to build the massive Panama Canal, while hostilities in Europe were quickly leading to WWI. Together, these workers, who came from all walks of life and all different backgrounds - all shared one dream - to be part of a piece of history that to this day…